Art School Announces Next Events in Series on How To Improve and Protect Arts Education

Art School, the new company being set up to support the arts industry and education sector to work together to improve and protect arts education, has announced its next events in its year long series bringing together leaders in the arts industry and education sector to share work, advice and recommendations on how to improve and protect arts education.

The next events follow events in 2017 with, amongst others, John Tiffany, Director of "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" and Associate Director at The Royal Court Theatre, film producer and former Head of Film at Creative England Caroline Cooper Charles, Henry Vann, Head of External Affairs at ISM, which runs "Bacc for the Future", the influential campaign for EBacc to include creative subjects, Daniel Harrison from the Young Vic Theatre and Chair of What Next? Generation, Steven Kavuma, founder of The Diversity School Initiative, which campaigns for greater diversity in drama schools, Tom Stocks, founder of Actor Awareness, Amanda Kipling, Chair of London Drama and PGCE Programme Leader for Drama at Goldsmiths, University of London, and Titilola Dawudu, currently selected for the Artistic Director Leadership Programme's "Leaders of Tomorrow" scheme.

Art School's next events will be on Drama, Art, Craft and Design Education.

The first event will take place in March 2017 with actress Julie Hesmondhalgh, who recently starred in Broadchurch and Coronation Street, has performed at the Royal Exchange Theatre and Royal Court Theatre, and who runs Take Back Theatre, which recently worked with Manchester University's Migration Lab.

This will be followed by events in March and April on Art, Craft and Design Education with Susan M Coles, past President of the National Society for Education in Art and Design, Secretary of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Art, Craft and Design Education and arts, creativity and educational consultant.

Jennifer Tuckett, Co-Director of Art School, said: "Our first three events in 2017 helped bring together the arts industry and education sector to share what work is leading the way in terms of arts education, and to share advice and recommendations on how to improve and protect arts education. We look forward to continuing the series in 2018 and we are delighted to be working with Julie Hesmondhalgh and Susan M Coles and are looking forward to sharing their work, advice and recommendations. There is good work going on around the issues of improving and protecting arts education but often not everyone knows what work is going on and we hope the series will provide a year of bringing together and providing access to and insight into some of the work going on and leading the way, plus also advice and recommendations on how to improve and protect arts education."

David Evan Giles, co-Director of Art School said: "I would never have become a professional writer or won a single award for my work if I had not been trained and inspired by teachers dedicated to arts education. The creative industries are said to be one of the future drivers of the British economy so failing to support them to the fullest extent makes no sense at all. We hope the Art School series will bring together some of the different leading work going on, help support the arts industry and education sector to work together to explore the issue of how to improve and protect arts education, as well as offer advice and recommendations on how to improve and protect arts education at a critical time."

The year long series, the first initiative of the new company Art School, was set up in response to EBacc not including creative subjects, the closure of arts courses such as the A Level in Creative Writing which closes this year and decreased uptake of arts subjects at school and university level. The company aims to support the arts industry and education sector to work together to improve and protect arts education.

The Art School advisory group includes Henry Vann, Head of External Affairs at ISM which runs the Bacc for the Future campaign, Caroline Cooper Charles, film producer and former Head of Film at Creative England, Steve Kavuma, founder of The Diversity School Initiative, Amanda Kipling, Chair of London Drama, the professional association for drama teachers in London, and PGCE Programme Leader for Drama at Goldsmiths, University of London, and Tom Stocks, founder of Actor Awareness, amongst others. Art School is also currently offering paid training to four trainee producers as part of its first initiative - the trainee producers are Dan Horrigan, Victoria Jones, Rachel Coombe and Margaret Perry and the scheme aims to help improve the transition from studying to working in the arts as part of the year long series of events.

More information on 2018's events will be released shorty but in the meantime people interested in attending the free events can sign up to the mailing list to be the first to receive information at www.artschool.space

The free events are open to teacher and lecturers, artists who would like to teach, students who would like to teach, the arts industry, education sector, policy makers and anyone interested in arts education.

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